Four Swords
by kintei-of-the-heavens
Summary: A story about 4 legendary swords in the hands of 4 different teens.
1. Prologue

Centuries ago, a kingdom existed in a continent between Asia and America. The kingdom of Zenith was the most powerful throughout the continent. Not one kingdom dared to send its army against Zenith. It had the best trained soldiers throughout the land but that did not make it powerful. What made it powerful was their Guardian Sages. They were hidden in a mountain called the Arcane Sanctuary. It was off limits to all, except for the royal family. It is in the sanctuary that the Sages rest, only to wake up when the kingdom is in grave danger. In times of peace, four beasts guard the kingdom on the Sages' behalf. These were the Lion, the Phoenix, the Griffon and the Wolf. Being as large as elephants, they guard the four sides of the kingdom. Any fool who would dare to attack Zenith was killed on the spot by the beast on the side that it guarded.

One day, a large army formed at the east side of Zenith. The Phoenix, which guarded the east side, attacked the army. Out of the thousands of men, four went forward and fought the Phoenix. It was badly injured and had no choice but to burn itself, in order to be born again. With the fall of the Phoenix, the Sages were alerted and went into Zenith. They fought the four warriors that injured the Phoenix while the Zenith army fought against the invaders. The battle lasted for days, and in the tenth day, the Sages are barely alive. Using their remaining strength, they transferred all their remaining power into the swords of the four most powerful Knights of Zenith.

After receiving the Sages' power, the Knights had superhuman strength. With this last act, the Sages perished. The Knights faced-off against the four warriors and eventually slain them. When the battle was finally won, the Knights of Zenith along with the remnants of the army, buried the Sages. The Knights were given access to the Sanctuary by the newly born Phoenix. Inside, they dropped the swords into a well, hoping that the need to use them would never come. They went out and the entrance closed. The Phoenix, the Lion, the Griffon and the Wolf used their power to transport the Sanctuary somewhere else and hid it from mortal eyes, only to reappear whenever the world shall need it.


	2. The Four Swords are Revived

Chapter 1 : The Four Swords are Revived

One afternoon, a high-school class was waiting for their teacher.

"One more minute…if he doesn't come, we're leaving."

"Right, right. I'm dying of boredom."

Then, the teacher entered the room. Everybody was silenced.

"Okay class, you know very well that a few days from now, you will be having your Christmas break. Your exams start tomorrow, so I should not teach you for today. Instead, let's have a little chat."

"About what?"

"About a book I found at home. It's quite old, but it's still readable."

"What's it about?"

"It's a legend. Class, did you know that most legends were based on things that occurred or existed?"

"Yeah, whatever. What's the book about?"

"It's about a continent that once existed between Asia and America. The book talks about a battle that raged for 10 days. The Knights of the kingdom called Zenith lead the army into victory. After the war, the Knights hid their mystical swords in a mountain called the Arcane Sanctuary, which got transported somewhere else. It is said that when the world is in danger, the Sanctuary will reappear and…"

_Rrrrrrrrrriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnngggggggggggg………………_

The bell rang.

"Damn… time sure flies fast. I've only been here for a few minutes."

"Of course! You are 50 minutes late!"

Outside the room, a bunch of students are sitting on a round bench which they lovingly named 'the Donut'.

"That teacher seriously needs a girlfriend!" a girl with long red hair said.

"I know. Maybe you should volunteer yourself." A boy with dark brown hair started teasing.

"You wish! That would never happen! I'd rather go out with the most annoying scout than to go out with the teacher that could shake the room when he sits. Besides, he's married!"

"Annoying scout! Sounds like a description of me…M-E!"

"Dream on!"

"Umm…guys, did you understand what he said earlier?" a boy with semi-curly black hair said.

"About the legend stuff? Yeah, what about it?"

"Do you think it's true?"

"I don't think so…and even IF it is true, you wouldn't find it. It's in the bottom of the Pacific!"

"Guess you're right."

Later that afternoon, dismissal time finally came. Students came pouring out of the gate. Among them is Zell, a dark brown haired student with the greatest patience and groundless cheerfulness.

"Oh, there you are. I was wondering if you already left." He said to Zaine, the red haired girl.

"Me, leave? Why would I do that?"

"Because of the teacher…you know, Godzilla."

"What did you say!" she smacks him with her small bag.

"That's pretty heavy for a small bag. It weighs a ton!"

"Wrong! Just half a ton."

"Anyway, shall we leave? It looks like it will rain and I don't have an umbrella!"

"Me neither! Let's make tracks."

A few minutes later…

"We're soaking wet… I told you. We should have run." Zell glared at Zaine.

"Stop whining!"

They continued walking. After an hour, they were still nowhere near their destination.

"Umm… this is weird."

"What's so weird, Zaine?"

"We were walking for more than an hour, but we still haven't reached the town."

"What's your point?"

"We should have been there half an hour ago!"

"Maybe we're lost."

"How can we get lost! The road from school to the town is one big straight line!"

"Just kidding! Maybe we are being warped."

"Warped! How crazy can you get?"

"Look around. We're surrounded by extremely thick fog. That should not even happen."

"I guess you're right. What do we do?"

"We have to find a way out of this fog." Zell grabs Zaine's hand

"What are you doing!" she turns red like a tomato.

"You could easily get lost if you're not careful."

"Why do you have to hold my hand?"

"We'll easily be separated if I don't."

A few kilometers away, someone was having a pretty similar predicament.

"That's weird… there's fog here…" Radale, the semi-curly haired boy said, "this shouldn't even be here."

He continued walking for a few more minutes, but he was still in the middle of the dense fog.

Zaine and Zell were still walking when he finally saw something.

"I see light. Come on! Let's run."

He dragged Zaine as he ran towards what he saw.

"Wait! Why are you running!"

"Just wait and see."

They continued running until Zell stopped dead on his tracks. Both of them were blinded by the light that hit them.

"The sun? At this time in the afternoon? Now I've seen it all." Zell's mouth hanged open.

"Look… the fog is gone."

"Yeah…and a forest is there in its place."

They were staring at the forest when they heard some movement in the bushes. Zell pulled Zaine behind him and prepared to attack. The sound was getting nearer and nearer until they saw someone walk out of the forest.

"Finally! Out of that stupid fog!"

"Radale!" they both shouted at the same time.

"Oh, you two. What are you doing here? Dating?"

"What did you say!" Zaine smacks Radale in the head with her half-ton bag.

"Oww… what was that for?"

"Nothing."

"Why did you hit me when I said that?"

"We are not dating!"

"Then why are the two of you alone?"

"Well…I can explain…"

"Admit it, you're on a date."

"Shut up!" she smacks him yet again with her half-ton bag. Sensing noisy times ahead, Zell finally spoke up.

"Relax, Zaine. You know he's always like that." He paused a bit, "And besides, what's wrong with us going on a date?"

"What are you talking about!" her face turned red.

"Stop blushing, Zaine. I was just joking."

Zaine let out a big sigh.

"All that aside, don't you think we should find a way home?"

"I guess you're right. From the looks of things here, we're probably in a different time zone."

"Alright. Let's start walking. It would be a very bad idea to stay out here when the sun sets."

The three of them started walking. They walked across the tall grass just at the edge of the forest. It was almost sunset. Bats screeched, birds chirped and monkeys were screaming. They didn't mind the sounds and continued walking.

Night arrived and they found themselves in the middle of another forest. It was dark and they could barely see anything. Their visibility was down to 2 meters. They heard the same sounds again, the bats, the birds and the monkeys. Minutes later everything became silent. Kilometers ahead of them, they could hear thousands of birds fleeing, and then everything became silent again. After a few seconds, they heard a loud roar. The roar turned into a growl. They could hear rustles in the leaves. Out of fear, Radale and Zaine hid behind Zell, using him as a shield.

"What are you doing?" Zell said as he trembled, being afraid himself.

"Simple. In case that 'thing' comes, you'll be the first victim and we'll have a chance to live."

"But… what if it comes from behind?" an evil grin appeared on his face.

"Stop joking! It's not funny!" Radale screamed.

They laughed, finally letting go of the tension. Mysteriously, the growls died out, leaving their laughter to fill the silence of the forest. Their fun, however was short lived. A loud shriek echoed through the forest, a shriek that sounded like that of a bird of prey. They looked up and saw light streaking through the thick canopy. Through small openings in the canopy, they saw flames. Flames that have the shape of an eagle. It flew above them and went westward.

"Whoa…now I've seen it all…" Zell said his favorite phrase.

"Should we follow it?" Radale asked nervously.

"Of course! It's not everyday that you get to see the Phoenix!"

Zell started running through the forest, following the Phoenix. Zaine immediately followed.

"Zell! Wait! Don't leave us!" she yelled as she ran after him.

Radale also ran after them, "What about me!"

They ran almost a kilometer when they finally made into a clear area in the middle of the forest. There, they saw 4 statues facing 4 different directions. The statue of a Wolf faced the North, the Lion faced the South, the Griffon faced the West and a statue of a large bird faced the East. Zell noticed that out of all the statues, the large bird was emitting extremely high temperatures and smoke came out from different parts of its body. He tried to touch it but got himself a minor burn.

"Ouch…" he shaked his hand in pain.

"What's wrong? Did you try to eat your own hand?" Zaine giggled.

"No…well, I almost got it cooked." Zell joked.

"Now that's stupid. How do you expect to cook without a fire?" Radale asked.

"Well, smart guy! Why don't you try touching this statue?" Zell grabbed Radale's hand and put it on the statue. At first, he did not feel anything.

"What's wrong with it? It's not even hot!" he suddenly felt something, "Waah! It IS hot!"

"Told ya."

Zaine sat down on some rocks in the middle of the statues to rest while the two boys were fighting. She let her sight wander when she suddenly caught sight of something glowing at the bottom of an old well.

"Hey, guys…take a look at this…"

Zell and Radale came to take a peek.

"Something in the bottom of a well…that sounds familiar…"

"Not 'something', but 'someone'… like… SADAKO!" Zell made a scary face.

Radale turned pale and fainted.

"Stop fooling around!" Zaine shouted at him.

"Alright! You can stop being like my grandmother!"

Their fight was interrupted when a wormhole appeared above them. Someone fell out of the wormhole and fell towards the well. Just as he was about to 'fall-in', bright light streaked out of the well, stopping his fall and levitating him a few inches above the well's opening. Then, something unseen pushed him into the ground, in front of their feet.

"Umm… who's he?" Zaine asked the two.

"I don't know…" Radale trailed off.

"But he looks familiar." Zell added.

"Is he dead?"

"Maybe."

"Well, he's not breathing. I guess he IS dead."

Then, the mysterious person regained consciousness and stared at them with droopy eyes.

"Oh…Radale, Zaine and Zell… hi there."

"AAAH! ZOMBIE!" all of them shouted in unison.

"Hey! I'm not dead!"

"Oh, sorry about that, John."

"Anyway, where are we?"

"In a forest right in the middle of nowhere."

Then, the well was emitting the same light again. All of them looked, expecting another person to fall down. Instead, four different swords came out. The blades aimed at them and flew towards them. Paralyzed due to unknown reasons, they knew that they will die in a few seconds. However, the swords landed in front of them, the blades piercing the ground.

"Whoa… that was weird…" Zell exclaimed.

They tried to pull out the swords from the ground, but at the moment they touched it, the swords shrank into pendants which put themselves into the hands of each.

"Did I just see what I just saw?" John's mouth hanged open.

"Yes you did… It's as if they chose their owners…" Zell said…


End file.
